The Decarie Report

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Jan. 5 blog - a mixed bag.

Today's blog will deal less with news than with my reactions to it - and with some very frank talk. A good deal of it will be local news - but also a bit on the meaning of a Trump presidency. A selection of items from other news papers will appear at the end.

First, a brief look at what makes the irving press such a stinker.

The editorial page columnist, Norbert Cunningham, doesn't know what the word politics means. It does not mean irrelevant or sleazy. If can, of course be both of those. Just about anything can be irrelevant or sleazy - including journalism. But that is not what the word means. It refers to the philosophy and methods by which a society is governed. To simply call politics dirty is just a barroom level of debate.

Cunningham suggests that NDP leader Dominic Cardy is right to have quit as leader of the NDP because it is full of dirty politics. Then he burbles witih delight that Cardy would be welcome in the Conservative party. Apparently, Conservatives don't practice dirty politics.

Get real, Norbert.

Politics refers to, among other things, the principles by which a party governs. The principles of Hitler and Mussolini, for example, were based on support for big business. (Read about it, some day, Norbert.)

The principles of the Conservative and Liberal parties in Canada have always been based on satisfying the needs and wants of big business, though without the brutality of Hitler and Mussolini - except in our treatment of native peoples and, at various times - Chinese and Africans. (This is 'justified' by the theory that making big business rich will make us all rich.).

The principles of the NDP were based on dealing directly with the needs of people. That is still there, though it has weakened over the past fifty years. As provincial leader, Dominic Cardy distinguished himself by abandoning all the NDP had ever stood for, and making it it a copy of the Liberals and Conservatives in order to get elected.

But what's the point of getting elected if all you stand for is what already exists?
Like Cunningham, like the Liberals, like the Conservatives, Cardy stands for a system in which we give first consideration to the wealthy. It doesn't work. It hasn't ever worked. If it did, medieval England would have been a paradise for the peasantry, sweatshop factories would be like vacation spas, and the starving people of Congo would be rolling in money.

If Cardy chooses to leave the NDP, that's good news. It should never have chosen him in the first place. But he will reappear. Cardy gives a strong impression of being a man who wants to elected because - he wants to be elected. I've known a lot of those in politics.

Oh, the "story of the year" for the irving press is that the company that wants to build a pipeline over New Brunswick says it's important to build it. That's the story of all the year? Hold me back. Gee! We were all expecting him to say it wasn't important.

Is it possible that the irving press chose this as the story of the year because the owner of the newspaper wants that pipeline? Nah! The owner would never interfere with the news. He's a hall of famer for his philanthropy and goodness. Just ask any member of the Chamber of Commerce.

Oh, the front page headline is about a member of one of our wealthy families who was found guilty of beating his father to death. Wow! That sure beats the story about a mysterious fish die-off in our local waters.

The killing was five years ago.He's still free, and the New Brunswick government is asking the Supreme Court to quash the verdict. The accused also has three lawyers working on his case. That's the nice thing about New Brunswick. Everybody, even the richest, gets equal treatment before the law.
_____________________________________________________________________________
The words below were spoken by Pope Francis on New Year's Day. Too bad Norbert Cunningham seems not to have read them.

Francis said that lthough the world is sadly marked by "hotbeds of tension and conflict caused by growing instances of inequality between rich and poor, by the prevalence of a selfish and individualistic mindset which also finds expression in an unregulated financial capitalism," as well as by various forms of terrorism and crime,

Note that he specifically names unregulated financial capitalism, the product of a selfish and individualistic mindset as the cause of inequality between rich and poor. So stuff your philanthropic awards, Chamber of Commerce.

Too bad most of our Protestant churches haven't noticed this.
_______________________________________
And here's a tough warning about our future under unregulated capitalism.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/under-35-you-face-at-least-3-tough-challenges-in-the-2017-economy-1.3921393

But the irving press lives in a world in which capitalism is all that counts. The news is all agurgle today with the news that some expensive housing projects will be going up on Main St., and this will revitalize business along that street.
Notice that the emphasis is all on the benefits for business. However, housing is also for people. So how does this meet the needs of people? The irving press doesn't mention it - and doesn't care.

Government policies focussed on making the rich richer will destroy a society. And that explains the rise of Trump....

Donald Trump has not created a problem in the U.S. On the contrary, he is the product of the problem. So is Clinton.

From the start, the U.S. has been focussed on the wants of the rich. It's not a coincidence that George Washington was perhaps the wealthiest American of his time. The war against the British was followed by centuries of war - against Canada, Mexico, native peoples, Latins, then Africans and Asians - and just about everybody.

That's surely odd for the world's most unattackable country. It's large, well-populated, and has no potential invaders on its borders. It's also protected by two oceans which, with its large population, make it impossible to invade.

Today, nuclear weapons have modified that. But the U.S. position is still the strongest in the world because it has nuclear weapons based on borders of countries it wants to threaten. They have no such bases to attack the U.S.
The U.S. has been particularly busy for the last 70 years invading countries that could not possibly attack the U.S. So why has it attacked them?

(Oh, - the Afghanistan war? There is no evidence Afghanistan had any connection with 9/11.)

In every case, the war has been to benefit American capitalists. North Korea and Vietnam were to open the door to control of the China market. Iraq and Syria were to give American capitalists control of their oil. Such wars, most of which we never hear about, are fought constantly all over the world with special ops, drones, or in support of 'rebels' who are really US paid mercenaries. That's what the pope was talking about.

These wars are immensely expensive, the more so since the manufacturers of it are immeasurably corrupt and corrupting.

The reality is that the American economic and political systems have collapsed. Donald Trump is not the cause of that. After all, it's been going on since 1776. But it has really gone wild since World War Two. The systems have collapsed.
Neither Trump nor Clinton is the cause of that collapse. They are the products of it. And if Trump were to be assassinated tomorrow or, worse, if his twitter account were to be closed, it would make no difference. The system has collapsed.

Nor is there any sign that Americans have any intention of facing reality. Their minds cluttered with myths of what their history has been, with hints that the U.S. is the chosen of God, with news and film propaganda about the wonderfulness of Americans, there is no room left for original thought.

The American system has collapsed; and it isn't coming back. The country now is a kettle of fears, hatreds, and naked racism and state power that is painfully reminiscent of Hitler's Germany. (Forget Clinton. She is Trump without the glib twitters.)
_______________________________________________________________________
To return to the issue of politics and people, here's quick look at what Norbert Cunningham doesn't know about the NDP party in Canada.

Around 1900, Canadian and American capital were as vicious and grasping as they are today. In Toronto, a boy working on an unprotected machine had his arm cut off. He was immediately fired and sent home. And that was it. Most housing in Canada was unspeakable. Working conditions were vile, and pay extremely low. For all but the rich, there were no pensions. There were commonly no holidays. Medical and dental care were impossible for most Canadians.

Forget the crap about how John A. Macdonald built Canada.(He was owned by big business.) Forget about the wisdom of Mackenzie-King (he got his start as a propagandist for the Rockefeller family, clearing up a murderous scandal they had created. His book, Industry and Humanity, was a kiss-up to big business.)
But, in those days, capitalism had not become a sacred word - so there was some examination of other economic forms. This was commonly carried out by clergy and by scholars who were concerned about the damage being done by capitalism. A leading figure in this was a Methodist clergyman named J.S.Woodsworth. And they settled on a blend of capitalism and socialism.

The important element is that they began with an examination of what human needs were - medical care, pensions, safe housing, protection against the ravages of capitalism, especially among the poor. They did not plan to destroy capitalism. They proposed to put it under control so that it served to benefit all. And they called their party the CCF (Cooperative Commonwealth Federation.)

Today's national and provincial pension plans owe a great deal to the CCF. But perhaps its greatest contribution was medicare which, for the first time, made medical service possible for everyone. That was largely the work of Tommy Douglas, a Baptist clergyman and premier of Saskatchewan.

In all cases, its starting point was to meet the needs of the people, rather that just the wants of a very few.

The great weakness of the CCF was that it had to rely on individual contributions. That meant it could never mount a struggle against the Liberals and Conservatives who were, from the start, bought by big business. (The Conservative party began as the party of Montreal big business. The Liberals were the party of Toronto big business. Now, they both draw on money from any big business.)

In the 1960s, desperate for money, the CCF approached the unions. The unions were agreeable but they rejected much of the core of the CCF - the regulation of big business. In effect, they gutted it. Without money, the CCF had no choice. It accepted those terms, and became the NDP.

Thus the appearance of the Dominic Cardys of this world who can leap from the "people first" NDP to the "rip off the people" Conservatives without even thinking about it (And note that this man, of no accomplishment whatever, is hailed in the irving press as one of the great leaders of our time.)

Now, the U.S. is rushing to destroy Obamacare. The country which can afford to let billionaires escape taxation can't afford to keep its people alive. And we're going to see all of this in Canada as the very greediest people in our society move in on health care, education and other essential fields.

And this is what the Pope was talking about in his New Year's day message. Too bad we seem to have run out of Methodists and Baptists who once had a similar message.
________________________________________________________________________
Here's something on capitalism that is more intelligent that anything ever likely to appear in the irving press.

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/01/05/notes-on-modern-day-capitalism/
We are on the edge. We might be over it.
__________________________________________________________________________________
We are doing little about climate change because capitalists don't want us to do anything. The same issue, and a dangerous one, applies to mineral wealth.

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/01/05/scarce-minerals-are-running-out-mining-quotas-are-needed/
___________________________________________________________________________
The U.S. has been closed out of the Syria peace negotiations. Gee. The news hounds at irving press seem not to have noticed. This is one hell of a defeat for the U.S. - if good news for the rest of the world. The bad part is that this could signal a very foolish reaction by the U.S.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/46150.htm
_______________________________________________________________________________
Americans would be very foolish to believe Trump's promises about jobs.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/46154.htm
__________________________________________________________________________________
Did Putin interfere in the U.S. election? So far, the evidence seems weak but, in any case....

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/05/americans-spot-election-meddling-doing-years-vladimir-putin-donald-trump
_________________________________________________________________________________
Canada does not have a history (as this article suggests) of welcome to immigrants - or even to native Canadians who aren't white or aren't Christian. But it was becoming so even when I was a child. Many of my schoolmates were Syrians, Italians, Jews.... And it is still improving.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/04/the-canada-experiment-is-this-the-worlds-first-postnational-country
__________________________________________________________________________________
Despite Obama's 'nice guy' image, he was a weak president for whom Obamacare, (though in horribly butchered form), was a rare accomplishment.

https://consortiumnews.com/2017/01/03/obamas-deadly-afghan-acquiescence/
__________________________________________________________________________________
Here's another of the results of wars to serve capitalism.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/01/yemen-orphans-170105052409798.html
__________________________________________________________________________________
Another reminder of the blessings of capitalism's wars.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/01/yemen-orphans-170105052409798.html
__________________________________________________________________________
aljazeera has greatly expanded the range of its operations and, so it seems, while maintaining its high quality.
_________________________________________________________________________________
a footnote - I came across a TV programme (American) called Democracy Now!. It's a news show that seems like a very intelligent one - with a very limited budget. It also has a web site of the same name.

The problem is it doesn't have much money - so it has to broadcast in the style of a radio show - that is, with a show host putting questions and a guest answering at length. And that doesn't work.

Radio holds attention because the listener has to listen carefully. You have to close your mind to the rest of the world, invent the faces and personalities of the speakers, and listen closely. My experience of radio was that listeners, on meeting me, often thought they had known me for a long time - and even that I had been in their houses and knew them. TV is different.

Long interviews on TV are boring. That's because the TV isn't just putting out sounds. It's putting out pictures. And those pictures require changes of light, of angle, of movement in order to remain interesting. And in the process of that, the meaning of the words is ignored. In fact, a series of long answers on TV - with shot of face of questioner, shot of face of interviewee - is profoundly boring.
One day, walking home from doing a TV broadcast, I met a neighbour.
"Graeme. I just saw you on TV."

I poised myself to look humble and modest.

"Where did you get that awful necktie?"

Democracy Now! seems to be a superbly intelligent programme. But it should be on radio.

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Jan.3: Laughing so I won't cry.

In an idle moment, I called up 'Trump twitter' . It's worth a read because these are the thoughts of a president who has no political philosophy whatever. To him, a nation (and, for that matter, the world) is just a giant business to be run like a business.

Today's deep thought was a shot at China. Trump wants to get tough with North Korea. And if he's going to get tough, he expects China to get tough along with him. Why? Because China exports a lot to the U.S., but imports relatively little. And if it won't get tough with North Korea, Trump will cut off trade with China.
That's a philosophy of sorts, I guess. But it's business philosophy, and so it reflects that business philosophy that what is good for American business is good for the whole world. And that's rubbish.

This is a neo-liberal reflection of the theory that if you make the rich ever richer, then everybody benefits as the wealth trickles down. But that has never happened. What happens is the the rich just keep on getting richer, usually with no benfit for anybody but the rich. The British Empire developed enourmous wealth - for the rich - so much wealth that the rich could sneer at the miners and factory workers as scum of the earth. The (neglected) history of the U.S. (and Canada) is a history of sweatshops, insecure jobs, extreme violence, including killing, against strikers, a lack of health care, pensions, basic services...

There was a small bump of shared prosperity for the generation born right after the war. But the business world managed to cure it. For the last forty years an more, we've watched a decline in services, a wonderful growth in wealth - but only for the wealthy - gained through self-promotion and tax avoidance. The rest of us have watched our share of the national wealth steadily dropping.
The weatlh taken out of the middle east, Africa, South America and parts of Asia continues to flow; but not to the people of those regions. Most of it goes to the same people who take our money.

So Trump has decided the logical thing to do is to pick a quarrel with China, and to make threats to North Korea. It's all simply a matter of profits. And if some people or even millions of people get killed, the important thing is maintaining profits for wealthy Americans. That's the beginning and the end of Trump's political philosophy. (In fact, that's pretty much been the philosophy of every American president - and more than a few Canadian prime ministers.)

That is what the mass killings of the Korean War, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Guatemala, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen... have been about. As even businessmen are fond of saying, such competition is the law of the jungle.
But we don't live in a jungle, and our planet will not survive if it is turned into a jungle.

Politics isn't about business. It's about people, and about the needs of people. It's about the needs of a whole society. But neither Trump nor Clinton have ever shown any understanding of that. That's why we have been watching a deterioration of life over most of the world, a rise in war and in the destruction it causes, but fatter wallets in the pockets of the rich.

In the view of the Trump business mind, we are in competition with the rest of the world. The reality is that a world of nations in competition cannot survive. You can get away with this in the business world, for a little while, because the boss can fire anybody who objects. In the real world, you have to go to war - which we have been doing with a notable lack of success for 70 years. (actually - for thousands of years.)
__________________________________________________________________________________
(Some day, I would love to be able to insert here a story from the irving press. But today's page 1 has the story that New Brunswickers googled "Maple Syrup" more than people in any other part of Canada last year. It's continued on page 2. Page 3 has a whole page how to stop theft from your car. Page 4 has a half page on fun things to do outdoors in Moncton. Then there's a powerful column reminding us that we have not found any aliens in space.

As it says at the top of page 1, "Up-to-the-minute breaking news every day. timestranscript .com)
______________________________________________________________________________
The issues of the native/police s tandoff at Standing Rock is now history. But it will be coming back and, perhaps, on a wider scale. Big business doesn't have a vote in U.S. elections. But it doesn't need one. It controls the government, anyway. And we are very likely to see more -Standing Rocks in the U.S. and in Canada. In fact, such resistance could well be the start of resistance over a wide range of issues.

When American and Canadian governments make promises to the electorate about the environment, they are usually playing "just pretend". This could well become a major issue of 2017. With luck, we might see here some cautious peeks at what has to be done.

The environmental issue is not just a matter of fossil fuels. It's a matter of using less to live on. It's a problem of diminishing supplies of minerals, for example, of diminishing supplies of overstrained farm produce - a problem that cannot be solved simply by throwing chemicals at it. We haven't even begun to consider the whole range of issues.

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/01/03/the-standing-rock-dapl-protest-2016s-arduous-journey-back-to-the-future/
_________________________________________________________________________________
I used to think the irving press was the worst newspaper chain I have ever seen. It's certainly one of the most boring and most biased and most trivial I have ever seen. But there are others that are worse because of the scale of their outright lies. The irving press isn't so much a liar as it a sleeping pill. Indeed, this is reality for almost all North American news media. Looking at it that way, almost all North American news media are worse than irving press.

One problems with this is that we don't get information on alternatives to the governing system we have. New Brunswickers have no idea of the alternatives to Liberals and Conservatives. Result? They've also voted for the same, two losers. The U.S. is even worse. That's why a revolt against the Democrats turned into a victory for Republicans who are the same or even worse.

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/01/03/what-should-parents-do/
______________________________________________________________________________
Here's an old story. But it's a sort of story one rarely sees. For almost 20 years, the U.S. has relied heavily on 'private contractors", the ones usually called mercenaries. These are hired to do the work of soldiers. But it's scarcely done out of patriotism. It's done for wages that can run (recently) to $600,000 a year. In fact, these are hired killers.

Some are American. Many are not. Anyone who wants to kill for a living is welcome. Nor does there have to be a war on. These are also used for small missions in support of U.S.-friendly dictators, for assassinations..... At the present time, almost every country in Africa has American mercenaries operating in it. And nobody knows (or is telling) how many around the world. .100,000 would probably be a conservative estimate. (Just a few years ago, there were over a hundred thousand mercenaries - most of them NOT American - in Afghanistan.

They are, in fact, hired thugs. And they are frequently known to kill, rob and rape as thugs do. And they can do so safely because enforcement of military rules is almost non-existent.

Coming soon, to a neighbourhood near you.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/aug/01/military.usa

here's a more recent and more gruesome account.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-privatization-of-war-mercenaries-private-military-and-security-companies-pmsc/21826

And another - this one including U.S. mercenaries in Yemen - you know, one of the poorest countries in the world that is being destroyed by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-privatization-of-war-mercenaries-private-military-and-security-companies-pmsc/21826

And another.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/05/18/private-contractors-are-the-silent-majority-of-obamas-military-mercenaries-iraq-afghanistan/

The U.S. is not only constantly at war. In almost all cases, it is illegally at war. The world now has more wars going on than the world has ever seen at one time. And, no, they aren't to bring democracy. This is a crude attempt at world conquest - and nobody knows how many it has killed under Bush, Obama, and now Trump.

And who would this world conquest benefit?

Corporation bosses.
_______________________________________________________________________________
But U.S. leaders have their own form of 'democracy'.

https://consortiumnews.com/2017/01/01/the-war-against-alternative-information/
_________________________________________________________________________________
The U.S. is well along on a self-destructive path which will also destroy many of us. Trump didn't begin it. But he's following it. We're going to see much more state control and muzzling, not only of the American people but of their 'allies'. We are also likely to see a new war or two. And if so, Trump will certainly demand that Canada join in.

Last night, I watched the most disgraced and disgraceful prime minister in Canadian history, Brian Mulroney, praising Trump as a 'great guy'. So keep an eye on Trudeau.

There is no advantage to Canada in being a puppet to Trump. There is every danger of Canada suffering the same crash that is coming to the U.S. It's going to be a tough decision. But Canada, for the first time in its history, has to make its own decision.

(It takes a long time - that I don't have - to go through all my sources. (There are, so far, some thirty of them.) Soon, I shall type a list of them on this blog.

Sunday, January 1, 2017

January 1: No forecast - just fear.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/israelis-won-t-miss-being-lectured-by-obama-and-kerry-derek-stoffel-1.3915146

Usually, any criticism of news media that I have is directed against the privately owned news media. I have no apology for that. They are far, far the worst offenders in lying, distorting, propagandizing and, in the case of the irving press, giving no useful news at all. But the CBC has, occasionally, been known to sin. And the opinion piece recorded above is a gem of an example.

The creation of the state of Israel in 1948 may well have been the most foolish (and racist) act of diplomacy ever forced on a battered world.

It was not done out of any sympathy for European Jews. After the horror of the holocaust, European Jews needed a land to provide them with security. No major nation was prepared to provide that. Anti-semitism still prevailed in Europe - and also in places like Britain, the U.S. - and Canada. Few people in those countries would accept Jews.

So the western leaders gave them somebody else's country. (They were and still are very generous with the land of others.) And so Israel was created out of the Arab-Jewish land of Palestine, with the native Palestinians confined to a fraction of their former land - and with virtually no control over even that.
What Israel needed to do then was to come to terms with the Muslim Palestinians. That should not have been difficult. For centuries, Jews and Muslims had lived together in peace in the land called Palestine. But the European Jews soon destroyed that.

They put the land of Palestine under such tight control that it could not even import food without Israeli permission. Israel, quite freely, has been taking over Palestinian land, expelling its people, and populating it with Jews. Any Palestinians remaining in Israel were severely discriminated against, were commonly forced to move out of Jewish districts - and their homes destroyed. They could even be forbidden to ride public transportation or to walk the sidewalks in some, Jewish districts.

I'm not suggesting any judgement of that. After the experience of the holocaust and the shameful failure of the west to help Jews, it's not suprising to find an extreme reaction among Jews. I have known Jews who were in the death camps. Yes. They were cynical about the motives of the west in establishing Israel. And they were right to be cynical.

Our mistake was to make Palestinians who, unlike us, had nothing to do with the horrors Judaism suffered - from us, from the Naziis, from the British, from the Americans, from the Canadians - our mistake was to make the Palestinians pay for what Hitler had done - and for the aid we had not given.

It's rather important to know all that in an opinion column about Jewish and Palestinian behaviour today. But this CBC commentary mentions none of this. Instead, it's a one-sided rant about how the U.S. has been picking on poor little Israel.

That "picking on" has included, for example, giving more foreign aid (mostly military) to Israel than has been given to any country in all of history. (Yes. I know the Americans have their own reasons for it. It remains true that such aid has been given.) It has also heavily funded Israel for industrial development. That's some 'Picking on'.

Whenever Israel has been (deservedly) criticized in the UN, the U.S. has routinely supported it. It has also worked for decades to bring peace to that region - with negotiations that have been routinely wrecked by Israel.
But none of this is even mentioned in the opinion column.

Instead, we get an attack on a quite reasonable speech that Kerry gave to the israeli state department - and which raised an issue israel has blocked with danger to its own peace as well as to the rest of the world. For decades, Israel has been forcibly taking Palestinian lands, kicking the Palestinians off, and effectively making their land part of Israel. It is an explosive issue that has to be settled - for the sake of all of us.

But not according to this CBC reporter. He quotes people who call Obama obssessive and maniacal on this problem. (I wonder how he'd react if Palestinians were stealing Israeli land?)

Israeli president Netanyahu is presented as a decent and reasonable sort of chap. He is, in fact, the most extreme leader that Israel has ever had. And Kerry is dismissed as simply a finger-waving, self-righteous fool.

At no point does the reporter suggest why this has been a major issue for all these decades, or how it guarantees instability in that region for as far can be seen. The reporter's tone is, in fact, racist - with Palestinians dismissed as sub-humans - just as Hitler dismissed the Jews.
__________________________________________________________________________
With that off my chest, here's a much worse situation to deal with. Why is Trump making nice with Russia?

It would be pleasant to think it is because he's lover of peace. But he's not. If he were, he'd scarcely be using first day after the election to phone Taiwan as if it represented China. No. It's not likely his kisses blown to Putin have much to do with peace.

American corporations are worried about going under before an immense Chinese expansion over the next 20 years or so. They would like the U.S. to go war against China before that. The American military brass feels the same way as it contemplates the rapid development of the Chinese military. In fact, the U.S. now has most of its navy stationed to confront China. But---,

...any conflict with China as things are now would mean war against China and Russia. Combined, they would be a formidable opponent for the west in any conventional war. And any conventional war would almost certainly become nuclear - with both sides heavily equipped.

No. Better to make friends with Russia which has its own unfriendly history with China. (When the US dropped atomic bombs on Japan, it was largely a warning to Russia which was sending troops into China.) There is a possibility that Putin would welcome an alliance with the U.S. in order to slow China down. This would, essentially, be a union between capitalists in Russia and in the U.S.
It's a little hard to tell what Trump is thinking because he talks in slogans rather than principles. ("Make America great again" - which means what?). But his cabinet leans heavily to military people, war hawks and corporate bosses. So it's unlikely that "make America great again" has much connection with peace.
It's also noticeable that his cabinet has a remarkable absence of people with a record of concern for the well being of the average American. In fact most American politicians have the needs of the average American for almost seventy years. But that average American, neglected and abused by the 'establishment' is who elected him. For a time, Trump will be able to get away with slogans and catchy twitters. And he can get away, for a time, with overlooking the taxes the wealthy don't pay, with starving the schools of the average American who can't afford a private school, with destroying Obamacare. But at some point, he's going to face criticism that he can disable only by building on fears and hatreds.
Will a viable opposition to Trump rise in the next four years? Not likely. The opposition democrats are the old establishment that voters rose against. They are, for the most part, the same as the Republicans, except that Trump has a gift for sloganeering. The U.S. has a weak record of social thought in its politics.
_________________________________________________________________________________
It seems a small thing, but choice of words really is important in journalism. If a city is taken by our side, it's a liberation. If it's taken by the other side, then it has fallen. it may sound like a minor point. But it affects the whole way we see the story.

https://off-guardian.org/2016/12/31/video-aleppo-did-not-fall-aleppo-was-liberated/
________________________________________________________________________________
Here is a broad look at the confrontation between native peoples who objected to an oil pipeline passing through their territory - and police who represented capitalists in trying to force it through. (Yes. I did write capitalists. It's not a swear word. And it reflects the reality in this case. We are entering a severe time of conflict between capitalism and human needs. It's very evident in oil use, for example, but also in forestry, labour conditions, social services. Canadians don't think of that much because their news media rarely put it in those terms. As it is now, capitalism can win only by using severe repression, and relying on their news media never to mention any alternative.

Consequently, the Canadian people, almost as much as Americans, have ignored the need for alternatives. So much is this true that the once innovative NDP party has become simply a moderate alternative to the Liberals and Conservatives.
We are nearing the crunch with capitalism. Its control of governments means a lack of adapting to changing conditions. In the end, that will destroy capitalism, but with a strong possibility of destroying us, too. (I don't suggest that socialism is necessarily the answer, though I expect any workable answer will have to draw on the principles of socialism. But will we ever have a serious discussion of that? Not if our news media can prevent it.)

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/30/20-photos-my-seven-months-of-living-at-standing-rock/
_________________________________________________________________________________
This item is about Canada; but it could apply to working class people all over the western world. It's the issue that got Trump elected (though a waste of time to do so because he has no intention of doing anything useful about it.)
Capitalism is showing the pure greed that lies at the heart of it. Again, I do not here suggest an alternative to it. I suggest that we need to give serious thought and action to capitalism because, as practiced, it's leading us straight into chaos.

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/karl-nerenberg/2016/11/new-canadian-study-explains-why-working-class-should-be-angry
_______________________________________________________________________________
Declaring war is old-fashioned. U.S. special ops troops are routinely sent to kill people all over the world. Here's a story about them in Africa. That continent has been a special victim for us. Its introduction to us was terrorism to kidnap slaves. in the nineteenth century and later, it felt the intrusions of western armies, destruction of traditional life patterns, redrawing of boundaries to fit the ambitions of western captialists - and, of course, the collapse of traditional social structures.

Nothing has changed. We're still doing it.

https://theintercept.com/2016/12/31/u-s-special-operations-numbers-surge-in-africas-shadow-wars/
_________________________________________________________________________
Americans are still getting overexcited about the story that Russia used computer hacking to intervene in the U.S. election and bring Trump to power. In fact, there's precious little evidence of that. And, as well, it ignores the far, far greater impact of the popular rejection of an Obama and a Clinton who were far too much like Bush in ignoring the hardships ordinary Americans face.

The leader in this hacking farce has been, not surprisingly, the Washington Post.

https://theintercept.com/2016/12/31/russia-hysteria-infects-washpost-again-false-story-about-hacking-u-s-electric-grid/

Did the Russian interfere in the US presidential race? I have no idea. But it is very, very hard to believe that any Russian intervention is what made so many millions vote for Trump.

The U.S. would never interfere in a foreign election by hacking. No. What it does is to send in troops to overthrow the elected government - as in Guatemala, Haiti, iran......
_________________________________________________________________________________
American news media and politicians are still raging about alleged Russian 'hacking' that interfered with the U.S. election - and we should expect dramatic moves on this before Obama steps down. Few seem to notice that we still have seen no evidence of this hacking. Nor, in all the self-rigihteous desk-thumping, have we been told that the U.S. has its own, substantial record of hacking.

https://consortiumnews.com/2016/12/30/hypocrisy-over-alleged-russian-hacking/
__________________________________________________________________________________
It's nice to see a clergyman break ranks with most Christians, and to question the Christianity of their support for war.

https://consortiumnews.com/2016/12/28/christmas-and-endless-war/
__________________________________________________________________________________
And Orwell was right on about the world we have allowed to take shape.

http://www.voltairenet.org/article194714.html
__________________________________________________________________________________
This one, from Haaretz is a difficult read - partly because the writing is dense and partly because it really requires some understanding of Jewish religious groups.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.762102
__________________________________________________________________________________
Many years ago, a friend who was African-American told me he had never been allowed to vote in his home state of Maryland. It seems there was a rule that poll officials were allowed to question voters to see if they were well-informed enough to vote. The only voters questioned were African-American. And the questions were extremely complex ones about the constitution, so complex that even experts would not agree on them. So no matter what answer was given, the poll officials would declare it wrong. Apparently, it still goes on - and on a large scale./

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/38936-how-do-republicans-get-away-with-voter-suppression
______________________________________________________________________________
It's surprising that our news media have not made more of the impact of Russia in Syria. The U.S. has spent a great deal of money to arm, train and supply 'rebels' (Islamic terrorists) to fight a war with Syria. The intention has been to dispose of a government that has not been obedient to its American oil corporation bosses.

And now it is ending in disaster for the U.S. as Putin has played it off the field. Russia has dominated the situation (with Iran sharing in its victory.) The U.S. which, until recently, dominated the middle east has been seriously displaced by Russia and Turkey. That will have consequences in the shattered societies that western imperialism has created in the middle east and Africa for over a century. And those victims of western greed are not likely to turn to the western imperialists to help them.

The west has limited time to regain the power it once had. It's by no means clear that it can, or that it should. 2017 could well be a decisive year in that respect.
__________________________________________________________________________________
The other issue that may come to a head is the looting of the western world by our very own corporation bosses. All over the western world, prosperity is in decline - largely because the wealthy declare expensive wars which we all have to pay for, and because, with the cooperation of governments and news media, they hide vast sums from taxation, leaving ever less for the rest of us. This, too, is speeding into a crisis.

It's going to be an interesting year.

Not at all looking to defend the Iraq war, but I'm wondering how you came up with 1.5 million? This website mentions 264 000 (which is still 264 000 too many). https://www.iraqbodycount.org/ on Dec. 28: forgive me for getting annoyed.	Anonymous	on 12/28/16
Predictions: Trump will involve Canada in the Ukraine and other countries. Combined with Trudeau's Neoliberal policies and his complete subservience to US foreign policy, Canada will become a disaster. Happy Holidays Graeme. on Nov. 23. Merry Christmas. Anyway.	Pamela Mac Neil	on 12/24/16
You make some very good points, Graeme. Keep up the good work! And, Merry Christmas! on Nov. 23. Merry Christmas. Anyway.	UU4077	on 12/23/16
World Trade Center - 1991? I think maybe you mean 2001. Although there was the 1993 bombing. on Nov. 23. Merry Christmas. Anyway.	UU4077	on 12/23/16
Romanian Hacker “Guccifer” Sentenced to 52 Months in Prison for Computer Hacking Crimes Marcel Lehel Lazar, 44, of Arad, Romania, a hacker who used the online moniker “Guccifer,” was sentenced today to 52 months in prison for unauthorized access to a protected computer and aggravated identity theft. According to admissions made in connection with his plea agreement, from at least October 2012 to January 2014, Lazar intentionally gained unauthorized access to personal email and social media accounts belonging to approximately 100 Americans, and he did so to unlawfully obtain his victims’ personal information and email correspondence. Lazar’s victims included an immediate family member of two former U.S. presidents, a former member of the U.S. Cabinet, a former member of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and a former presidential advisor, he admitted. In many instances, Lazar publically released his victims’ private email correspondence, medical and financial information and personal on Dec. 9: Donald Trump - Hero! Remove content Delete Spam	Anonymous	on 12/20/16
I believe the author of the article http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/16/o-little-town-of-bethlehem/ is UCC - United Church of Christ [US] - similar to United Church of Canada - but, different. on Dec. 16: Trump - Same Old Same Old.	UU4077	on 12/16/16
Yup, we were told about asbestos dust problems in our NS rural High School Science class, Grade 9, 1959/60. The book was called "Science in Action", and for some reason I can't find it to quote the relevant passage. That's because I've dragged it out before as reference and put it somewhere or other where I wouldn't forget it. Naturally. At work, the huge building I worked at for a provincial electrical utility had all its asbestos removed in 1986 - what an exercise that was. Two years later, we had removed all PCBs provincewide as well -I was involved in that exercise. Why it takes the numbskulls at Federal Public Works until 2017 to get around to examining their buildings for asbestos is beyond me. Of course Harper reaffirmed export of asbestos outside Canada, particularly to India during his imperatorship, looking for a few votes in the Scheffervill area. And Australia banned the stuff for brakes and clutches in cars back in 2003, so we're hardly bleeding edge here in Canada. As on Dec. 14: A very ugly day.	Anonymous	on 12/15/16
Imo, Canada long ago needed to realign with countries whose outlook mirrored our own. We were so proud of accomplishments such as our once coveted health care system and being on the right side of history during the war years. Had democratic socialism and a closely monitored capitalistic growth been the order of the day, our strengths would have been in our standard of living and our reputation as peace-keepers. Instead we've become weapon manufacturers and a global threat to indigenous peoples through our corporate resource extraction policies. Drawing a firmer line down the 49th is now a formidable task. on December 10: Fake News	James Lane	on 12/11/16
"Up-to-the minute breaking news every day." That's just brainless. How can news be up-to-the minute when the paper goes into print hours before we see it?... They have a website dude. I'm guessing that they mean that they're "up to the minute" online (even though they aren't). on Dec. 5: The most contemptible, lying..........	Anonymous	on 12/8/16
Re: The Mafia State. Some may take solace in the view that such doom and gloom will be short lived if the earth shudders from the weight of it's current dominant inhabitants. on Dec. 5: The most contemptible, lying..........	James Lane	on 12/7/16
If business elite threatens to remove jobs that's fine. We will continue to tax their properties. Without an income they will eventually lose their properties to pay the unpaid taxes. Patience is needed, but eventually the people can win back what was lost. on Dec 3: They said it! The U.S. runs dictatorships for mass murder	NB Coward	on 12/4/16
Graeme, I have been negligent in my reading of your Reports, I have been spending my time with the Strike talks by the Teachers. I realize that you were once a very good Teacher etc, however I think that the Time for Unions to be replaced has come. Do you have any Suggestions.The Teachers say that they are very concerned about the Safety of Children, if the Government Locks them out. I wonder who cares for the Children during July,August and all the other Teacher Time off? Your Comments would be appreciated. Thanks on Dec 3: They said it! The U.S. runs dictatorships for mass murder	texdar	on 12/4/16
Graeme, I have been negligent in my reading of your Reports, I have been spending my time with the Strike talks by the Teachers. I realize that you were once a very good Teacher etc, however I think that the Time for Unions to be replaced has come. Do you have any Suggestions.The Teachers say that they are very concerned about the Safety of Children, if the Government Locks them out. I wonder who cares for the Children during July,August and all the other Teacher Time off? Your Comments would be appreciated. Thanks on Dec 3: They said it! The U.S. runs dictatorships for mass murder	texdar	on 12/4/16
It has been your column which got me reading articles in the alternative press. Engrossed study has eventually led me to the conclusion that a lot of it is underdeveloped logical tripe, particularly the US stuff authored of course by Americans who cannot really exorcise the America-centric-ness of their opinions. The US is still the only place that counts to them and a world viewpoint is always missing, unless they are first generation citizens. PC Roberts has swung himself from branch to branch of the barking-mad tree in the last nine months, and the rest of the commentators are lightweights. I get bored putting on my US spectacles to read US opinion - they all still really think they are part of the "exceptional" nation and fulminate accordingly. Of the world commentators, Vlychek seems to be off in a socialist dreamworld somewhere or other that is so pure as to be both unattainable and unexplainable in normal words. I have come to really appreciate a mere three authors: T P on Dec.2: The world on the edge.	Anonymous	on 12/3/16
It never stops does it? on Dec 3: They said it! The U.S. runs dictatorships for mass murder	Al Zwikker	on 12/3/16
Fidel Castro is gone however l still believe it is relevant and unbelievably atrocious that a Castro is still in charge as a dictator who is suppressing free speech and journalistic freedom. There is no question that the Cuban revolution was necessary as the government that was replaced was totally corrupt. That being said nobody deserves to live under any type of dictatorship. In 2003 Fidel Castro imprisoned 75 dissident thinkers including 29 Journalists, Librarians, Human rights activists and democracy activists. Graeme Decarie would have been jailed too l think. This was done by the way on the day of the Iraq war invasion so that the rest of the world would not take as much notice of it. Arrests and imprisonments have continued and in 2011 a Juan Wilfredo Soto a Cuban dissident died 3 days after his arrest and beatings by the Cuban police and came 15 months after the death of an arrested human rights activist Orlando Zapata who died on a hunger strike protesting prison on Nov. 26: Castros' death - and our dead newspapers	CodiacBear	on 11/29/16
I read your blog many times a week and I truly look forward to hearing your thoughts on different matters. I beg to disagree with yoir views on Castro. Throwing innocent people in jail is ok because the USA tried to assassinate him? I admire Castros (and Chavez's for that matter) willingness to stand up to the USA, but what is the point of having high literacy if it is to be arrested. I had the honor of spending a month in Cuba. While not an expert, I was able to make some observations. The health system is pretty good, but it is better for the cuban elite and foreigners. The local Hospital that I visited looked like a dump. Later on, a canadian friens of mine was injured and taken to the Hospital, with much better standards. on Nov. 28: Castro and our contemptible news media.	Anonymous	on 11/29/16
Fidel Castro is gone however l still believe it is relevant and unbelievably atrocious that a Castro is still in charge as a dictator who is suppressing free speech and journalistic freedom. There is no question that the Cuban revolution was necessary as the government that was replaced was totally corrupt. That being said nobody deserves to live under any type of dictatorship. In 2003 Fidel Castro imprisoned 75 dissident thinkers including 29 Journalists, Librarians, Human rights activists and democracy activists. Graeme Decarie would have been jailed too l think. This was done by the way on the day of the Iraq war invasion so that the rest of the world would not take as much notice of it. Arrests and imprisonments have continued and in 2011 a Juan Wilfredo Soto a Cuban dissident died 3 days after his arrest and beatings by the Cuban police and came 15 months after the death of an arrested human rights activist Orlando Zapata who died on a hunger strike protesting prison on Nov. 26: Castros' death - and our dead newspapers

The Decarie Report

Saturday, January 7, 2017

Jan. 7: A bad day for the world.